5 Things Every New Yogi Needs to Know

Hari KalymniosMarch 25, 20140

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When I started practicing yoga several years ago, I must admit there was
little thought to it. I was working shifts and yoga seems like the best
activity to do after staying up all night at work. I’d tried running a
few times and almost fainted. So I just chose the class in the gym
nearest to 9am. Since those humble (and naive beginnings) I’ve become a
bit more experienced, but I realize that when I started I had many
misconceptions about yoga and what it was/was not.

Here are 5 things that I’ve learnt that I wish I’d known at the
beginning of the journey.

Go Slow

I think the biggest challenge for me was allowing the improvements to
come slower. In running, you might take it up and six weeks later have
lost all the weight, or improved your time by 20%. In yoga, the gains
(seemingly) come slower. In reality, they probably come faster, but as
it’s often difficult to gauge, it seems like it has taken you six months
to get that one inch closer to your toes! I always tell friends
interested in yoga not to expect miracles overnight. Along with the new
surge of popularity in yoga and great results people get, some people
expect too much, too soon. Be patient and it will come.

Test, Test and Test

I tell new yogis to test different aspects of yoga before coming to a
conclusion (like it’s not for them, or yoga is boring, or you don’t
improve strength). We all come to activities with expectations and
preconditioned beliefs about what we think is true, and this clouds our
experience. I always suggest trying different styles of yoga, with
different teachers—even if you really like the first one. This will give
you perspective and a better platform to make a decision from. If you
just go to one class and think, “Well that was too easy compared to
what I’m used to”, then you are generalizing all yoga to that one
experience. And this can have the power to affect whether you continue
or not. Test teachers, styles, locations and formats. Then decide.

The Mat is a Mirror for Life

What happens on the mat stays on the mat? Not really. How you perform on
the mat is often a microcosm of your life. Are you scared to take a risk
in that headstand? Are you concerned about what others think about your
inability to do the splits? Do you constantly pick up on any errors you
think the teacher is making? I once heard a speaker say, “How you do
anything, is how you do everything.” And it’s often true. Are you always
late and flustered for class? Do you think that it’s too easy for you
and you have nothing to learn from it? Well, the mat is a mirror, so use
it to get a better understanding of your own psyche.

Find Out What You’re Sensitive To

It’s one of the seldom discussed aspects to yoga, but all that
stretching, twisting and breathing can, well... release “tension” built
up in the body, expelled through, well, you know where. And struggling
to keep in a bit of flatulence is going to affect your practice. One
thing I came to realize was just how what I ate affected my practice. So
find out what might cause you to pass gas—typically it’s things like
dairy, eggs, fried food, crisps/potato chips and many other products—
for me it’s often almonds! Refrain from consuming anything that gets you
going and you’ll be able to relax more.

Make Mistakes, and Many of Them!

We heard it a lot as children. That it’s okay to make mistakes—as long
as we learn from them. Well, somewhere in growing up we forgot that. But
the thing is, in order to learn a new skill, we must make mistakes. The
reason is that as we repeat certain activities, our neural connections
in the brain get stronger. The more we do said activity or task, the
more the connections strengthen. If you imagine the neural connections
as copper wires that send information from one part of the brain to
another, then the more you do something the stronger the signal becomes.
However, a substance called myelin wraps around the ‘wire’ (like the
insulating part of copper wires) and is important for keeping the signal
in. And myelin grows and gets more insulating with deep practice. This
is the kind of mindful practice where you make mistakes and then work to
improve each time. So welcome the mistakes. Be conscious of where you go
wrong and you will improve faster.

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Hari Kalymnios

Hari Kalymnios is an author, wellness coach and yogi who helps people who need more energy in their lives understand what it takes to live energetically, so that they can perform as their best, experience all life has to offer and live without restriction. His ‘Energy B.E.A.T. MODEL™’ is the foundation by which people can learn and implement the ‘four fundamentals to energetic living’. Hari teaches this model and other concepts via his book, courses, speaking and coaching and firmly believes that if you “train the mind, the rest will follow™”.
Hari is the author of the book ‘The Thought Gym’ and can be reached via his website, www.TheThoughtGym.com
Gaiam TV readers can recieve 50% off his course, Beat Tiredness by clicking here.
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